Read Online One Night in Boston by Allie Boniface - Free Book Online Page B

know if that was right at all. She didn’t know if landscapers kept regular hours. She didn’t even know if they kept regular offices, or just machines in empty rooms that picked up calls while their owners planted flowers and shrubs.
    “Damn!” She slapped the flat of her hand against the desk. Why did she have to do this all by herself? Why couldn’t she think of one other person besides poor Neve to help her shoulder the efforts?
    Maggie froze as an idea struck her. “Eden Fife,” she said out loud. “Jesus, why didn’t I think of her sooner?” For the last year and a half, Maggie’s former college roommate had manned the phones at one of Boston’s top law firms. She was also a member of a half-dozen social groups in the city. Maggie grabbed her cell phone again. If anyone can help me find Dillon, it’s Eden. That woman has connections most people only dream of .
    She thumbed down through her phone book, hoping she hadn’t deleted Eden’s work number in some mad fit of clearing out last month.
    Eden — Home.
    Eden — Work.
    Thank God . She dialed and prayed it wasn’t lunchtime or quitting time or some other kind of formal-office-ritual time up there. Please answer. Please .
    “McGrath, Lyons, and Yearwood.” The voice, crisp and professional, with just a hint of Virginia gentility, picked up on the second ring.
    “Eden? It’s Maggie.”
    The voice sucked in a breath. “Mags? Really?”
    “Really.”
    “I haven’t heard from you in ages . Y’all all right down there?” Though Eden had lived in the north for over ten years, at times her Southern drawl still dripped like honey. To Maggie it spoke of times gone by, of carefree college days, of endless nights of studying and pizza breaks and swearing never again over the guys who broke their hearts.
    “Hi. Yeah, I’m all right.” She tried to remember how to have a normal conversation before leaping into desperation.
    “Well, it’s been too long. I miss you. What are you doing with yourself these days?”
    “Um…surviving.”
    Eden paused and Maggie could almost see her friend cocking her head to one side. Blonde hair would fall like a curtain across her face as she weighed the words. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
    Maggie took a deep breath. “Actually, I’m trying to find someone up there in Boston. I was hoping you could help me.”
    Eden laughed, a throaty sound that made Maggie long for days of margarita-drinking, whistling at the guys playing football outside their window, studying until midnight and then driving to the harbor just to listen to the waves.
    “You are too much, Mags,” she said. “It’s a guy, isn’t it? You met a guy and he hasn’t called you back and so you want me to track him down. Sure, I’ll do it.”
    I wish , Maggie thought. “It’s not a guy,” she said. “Not the way you mean, anyway.”
    “So what exactly are we talking about? Who do you need to find?”
    Maggie said the name she hadn’t spoken aloud in years. “Dillon Murphy.”
    “Your stepbrother?”
    She expected Eden’s surprise. In all the years of their friendship, she’d mentioned Dillon exactly twice: once before the operation, and once eighteen months later, after breaking up with the one man she’d wanted to spend her life with. Both times, sobs had virtually obscured her words, so she wasn’t sure Eden remembered much of what she’d said. But the agony, the blame, the heartbreak behind the tears—that had been pretty apparent, Maggie guessed.
    “Mind if I ask why?’
    “How much time do you have?”
    “Not enough, from what it sounds like. Okay, save the details for later. How soon do you need to find him?”
    “As soon as I can. I’m pretty sure he owns a landscaping business up there. Spectacular ‘Scapes. I called, but all I got was the machine.” She took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m going to drive up. Today. I’ve got to figure out where to find him. If he’s not in his